Before
the young Somersetshire shipmaster he came to a halt, and stood an
instant pondering him. Then he fingered the muscles of the young
man's arm, and bade him open his mouth that he might see his teeth.
He pursed his coarse lips again and nodded.
He spoke to Gardner over his shoulder.
"Fifteen pounds for this one."
The Captain made a face of dismay. "Fifteen pounds! It isn't half
what I meant to ask for him."
"It is double what I had meant to give," grunted the Colonel.
"But he would be cheap at thirty pounds, your honour."
"I can get a negro for that. These white swine don't live. They're
not fit for the labour."
Gardner broke into protestations of Pitt's health, youth, and vigour.
It was not a man he was discussing; it was a beast of burden. Pitt,
a sensitive lad, stood mute and unmoving. Only the ebb and flow of
colour in his cheeks showed the inward struggle by which he
maintained his self-control.
Peter Blood was nauseated by the loathsome haggle.
In the background, moving slowly away down the line of prisoners,
went the lady in conversation with the Governor, who smirked and
preened himself as he limped beside her.
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